This invention relates in general to air freshening or deodorizing devices and, in particular, to a self-contained air freshener which draws ambient air through the apparatus, and about or through a deodorizing cartridge to vaporize materials contained in the cartridge for distribution into the air flow.
More specifically, but without restriction to the particular embodiment and/or use which is shown and described for purposes of illustration, this invention relates to a self-contained air freshener utilizing a replaceable cartridge containing or formed from a vaporizable material, and a replaceable battery power source. These replaceable or expendable items are carried within the apparatus to permit the convenient and selective replacement of these items when necessary.
The air freshening or deodorizing device as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,406, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, is a satisfactory commercial device. However, a problem that is inherent in this field is the use of unauthorized replacement cartridges in the dispensers. To avoid unauthorized cartridges being used in dispensers, there should be included in the dispenser some mechanism to prevent the use of unauthorized cartridges therein. In the soap dispensing field, there have been what is called anti-bootleg devices incorporated in soap dispensers, for instance see Steiner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,309 and 4,429,812, which disclose anti-bootleg devices in soap dispensers. However, in the present air freshening or deodorizing art, there is no mechanism present which would prevent the use of unauthorized cartridges in the devices.
The present invention is constructed such that the important commercial features of the device illustrated in the '406 patent are retained with the addition of anti-bootleg structure for preventing unauthorized cartridges from being used in the device.